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My friend Judy from the US posted me a book of hers, called Eye to Eye: Facing the consequences of dividing Israel (thanks again Judy!). It is fascinating. I got the book yesterday, and I've read the first chapter already, and that's something for me as don't usually read many books. So far William Koenig has briefly outlined Israel's history, seven reasons for its right to occupy the land, and the miracle of its existence today despite facing at least five wars with the surrounding nations against all the odds. What struck me is the one-sidedness of this conflict. The international community is trying to solve it by dividing the land between the Jews and Arabs, hoping that the Arabs will somehow accept Israel's existence if all their land is given back. But as Israeli politicians have stated before, Israel's right to exist is non-negotiable. No other nation in the world would give away land just to have its "right to exist" recognized, yet we are pressing Israel to do that very thing. What also caught my attention is the fact that Arab nations have never recognized Israel's right to any of the land, never mind pre-1967 borders. And this current situation, in which Israel "occupies" the West Bank, Gaza and Golan is a direct consequence of that refusal, in 1948, 1956 and 1967. It's also not the first time an Arab nation has called for Israel to be "wiped off the map". The leader of Iraq on June 1st, 1967, stated, "We are resolved, determined and united to achieve our clear aim of wiping Israel off the map". Within six days, Israel had not only completely destroyed the airforces of Egypt, Jordan and half of Syria's, but they could have gone on to overthrow those countries, but stopped short because their stated objective had been achieved. It is Israel that has always shown restraint, while the Arab nations have always threatened war.

That leads me to President Ahmadinejad's statement today, where he said that the time of Iran's enemies is over. The Iranian President made the remarks during a farewell meeting for the Lebanese Ambassador to Teheran, Adnan Mansour.

Quote: ""The time of our enemies is over, and - like in the past - the Iranian government and nation support the Lebanese people during the some of the toughest moments in their history," he declared. Referring to the recent war between Hizbullah and Israel, Ahmadinejad said that the "spectacular resistance" of the Lebanese nation against the Zionist regime was "unique and unparalleled." "With its resistance, the Lebanese nation became the flag of resistance, piety, and pride for all nations," Ahmadinejad concluded.

The Iranian President made a statement two years ago at an anti-Semite conference called "The World without Zionism", that Iran intended to wipe Israel off the map. Iran became the first country in the United Nations to call for another member of the organization to be destroyed. The remarks were internationally condemned, but so far the Iranian president remains in power and nobody is prepared to bring him to justice. Perhaps the reason for that is, that his time has not yet come. Perhaps the Iranian President may be kept in power until the invasion of Israel in Ezekiel 38-39. And if history is anything to go by, it will not be Israel that is "wiped off the map".